Boy-Girl Friendships Benefit Boys More than Girls

While children and teens are much more likely to have same-sex friends, when they do make friends with the opposite sex, it's much more beneficial to the boys than to the girls, according to a study at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence, tracked nearly 400 teens, 58 percent of which were girls, over seven years, and tracked their friendships and use of drugs and alcohol. The study found that for the girls who had male friends, it was usually older boys, who they used to get alcohol, as the drinking age in Canada is 18 years old.

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But boys, on the other hand, who had female friends, actually had a lower reported drug and alcohol use, reports UPI.

"Boys reported receiving higher levels of emotional support from their other-sex friends, whereas girls receive more support from their same-sex friends. It is possible that having other-sex friends is protective for boys because they gain emotional support and are therefore less likely to engage in problem behavior," the study's author Dr. Francois Poulin said.

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Anecdotally, this isn't very surprising. Most parents are much more concerned if their 14-year-old daughter is spending time with 18-year-old boys than they would be vice versa. And it's not just sex. Drugs and alcohol usually go along with that equation, as well.

But it's also interesting that boys get so much emotional support from female friends. Teenage girls do tend to have a higher Emotional IQ than their male peers, and with a male friend they are probably less likely to get into mean girl politics, offering him support without the drama.